In 1956, the Philippine government passed the “Rizal Law,” requiring that all universities provide mandatory courses on José Rizal and his works. This was opposed by the Catholic Church, which continued to resent its portrayal in Rizal’s novels despite the Filipino clergy’s early association with the nationalist movement. Church leaders accused the bill’s proponent, Senator Recto of being a communist and anti-Catholic. The final bill included a provision allowing Catholic students to refrain from reading Rizal’s works, citing conscientious objections. In the campaign to oppose the Rizal bill, the Catholic Church urged its adherents to write to their congressmen and senators showing their opposition to the bill; later, it organized symposiums. In one of these symposiums, Fr. Jesus Cavanna argued that the novels belonged to the past and that teaching them would misrepresent current conditions. Radio commentator Jesus Paredes also said that Catholics had the right to refuse to read them as it would "endanger their salvation". Groups such as Catholic Action of the Philippines, the
Congregation of the Mission, the
Knights of Columbus, and the Catholic Teachers Guild organized opposition to the bill; they were countered by Veteranos de la Revolucion (Spirit of 1896), Alagad ni Rizal, the Freemasons, and the
Knights of Rizal. The Senate Committee on Education sponsored a bill co-written by both
José P. Laurel and Recto, with the only opposition coming from
Francisco Soc Rodrigo,
Mariano Jesús Cuenco, and
Decoroso Rosales. The
Archbishop of Manila,
Rufino Santos, protested in a
pastoral letter that Catholic students would be affected if compulsory reading of the unexpurgated version were pushed through.
Arsenio Lacson, Manila's mayor, who supported the bill, walked out of Mass when the priest read a circular from the archbishop denouncing the bill. Rizal, according to
Cuenco, "attack[ed] dogmas, beliefs and practices of the Church. The assertion that Rizal limited himself to castigating undeserving priests and refrained from criticizing, ridiculing or putting in doubt dogmas of the Catholic Church, is absolutely gratuitous and misleading." Cuenco touched on Rizal's denial of the existence of
purgatory, as it was not found in the Bible, and that Moses and Jesus Christ did not mention its existence; Cuenco concluded that a "majority of the Members of this Chamber, if not all [including] our good friend, the gentleman from Sulu" believed in purgatory. On May 12, 1956, a compromise inserted by Committee on Education chairman Laurel that accommodated the objections of the Catholic Church was approved unanimously. The bill specified that only college (university) students would have the option of reading unexpurgated versions of clerically-contested reading material, such as
Noli Me Tángere and
El Filibusterismo. The bill was enacted on June 12, 1956, Flag Day. ==Content==